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Good battery, but still won't start w/o jump

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nicknorth11

15+ Year Contributor
663
7
Feb 9, 2005
Grand Blanc, Michigan
I have a new battery that is showing 13.5volts via ecmlink and autozone determined was good. I also have a new alternator that tested good. The car sounds weak when trying to start and won't start unless I jump it. I can let the car run forever and it seems fine, but as soon as I turn it off it sounds weak again when trying to start and won't start. Any ideas?

Thanks guys.
 
i know its a dumb question but is your starter good?
check your spark plugs and coil pack too
 
No, it's obviously not the starter. Please stop guessing. The starter is doing its job just fine as long as it gets enough power. I think 91awdtalon may be onto something. I'll check that out as soon as I get some time, hopefully tomorrow.
 
Sounds good. Get back to us with the news. Make sure all connections are tight and solid.
 
That was happened to me the other day my car was nearly dead at first crank then would start a couple of times after that then be weak again the battery showed good but my cranking amps were depleted severely you might want some one to try to diagnose it again
 
i'm going through roughly the same issue, well not anymore :)

-even if the battery is good, try a different battery, one with 660 cca or higher.

-if the battery light on the dash is on, that means the alternator is bad. sure you knew that, but no one ever said anything bout that.

-you very may well have a bad ground somewhere. something my friend did was take a thick wire from the alternator to the battery: providing a direct charge. it works.

-you may have a bad ground. check the battery first and make sure everything is secured tight.

i wouldnt try this just strictly because of my fear of electrocution, but here's an idea i read a few days ago. while the car is running, remove the negative terminal from the battery. if it still runs, the battery is bad. if not, the alternator is.
 
when you jump you car only use one terminal, ex ground only or power only, that should narrow which side is not working right.
 
Are your terminals nice and tight? If you have a little wiggle just hammer a little aluminum roofing nail in there for a temp fix. ;)

Yeah, they're tight. Thanks.

i'm going through roughly the same issue, well not anymore :)

-even if the battery is good, try a different battery, one with 660 cca or higher.

-if the battery light on the dash is on, that means the alternator is bad. sure you knew that, but no one ever said anything bout that.

-you very may well have a bad ground somewhere. something my friend did was take a thick wire from the alternator to the battery: providing a direct charge. it works.

-you may have a bad ground. check the battery first and make sure everything is secured tight.

i wouldnt try this just strictly because of my fear of electrocution, but here's an idea i read a few days ago. while the car is running, remove the negative terminal from the battery. if it still runs, the battery is bad. if not, the alternator is.

The battery is a custom one I bought last year (all black interstate honda battery, which is much smaller than stock. It's also the highest cca made that'll fit in the space I have: 500). Also, again, both the battery and alternator are new and both have been tested. The battery light does not come on. ECMLink is showing good power coming from the battery.

when you jump you car only use one terminal, ex ground only or power only, that should narrow which side is not working right.

Now that is a smart idea. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this will only test the battery's ground, right? i.e. I'll still need to check the starter's ground if that doesn't work?


Thanks a lot everyone!
 
Yeah, they're tight. Thanks.



The battery is a custom one I bought last year (all black interstate honda battery, which is much smaller than stock. It's also the highest cca made that'll fit in the space I have: 500). Also, again, both the battery and alternator are new and both have been tested. The battery light does not come on. ECMLink is showing good power coming from the battery.



Now that is a smart idea. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this will only test the battery's ground, right? i.e. I'll still need to check the starter's ground if that doesn't work?


Thanks a lot everyone!

If it was starter ground you would hear click click
 
I was putting on a new DP and exhaust on my car, had to put it back together after taking everything apart. Well when I took it apart the second time I did not disconnect the battery and arc'd my alterator. Got everything back together my damn battery light was on in my car. I was pissed thought I fried my alternator.
Well decided to check my fuse box and the 100A alternator fusable link was busted. Got a new one and everything is great. Check that out, haven't seen no one bring it up but might be the cure to all your woes.
If the fusable link is good andyou haven't messed with the battery check out your grounds.

Pete
 
I was putting on a new DP and exhaust on my car, had to put it back together after taking everything apart. Well when I took it apart the second time I did not disconnect the battery and arc'd my alterator. Got everything back together my damn battery light was on in my car. I was pissed thought I fried my alternator.
Well decided to check my fuse box and the 100A alternator fusable link was busted. Got a new one and everything is great. Check that out, haven't seen no one bring it up but might be the cure to all your woes.
If the fusable link is good andyou haven't messed with the battery check out your grounds.

Pete

Yeah that's what I was getting at with my question about other accessories because they usually go out along with the fuse. However also when the ALT fuse is blown you get less then 12 volts because its not charging. He mentioned he's getting 13.5 so I figured its not the fuse.
 
I had this same problem with my car where it wouldn't start or it would be VERY weak starting. I put it on a charger and tightened my alternator belt and made sure my battery connections were good and it hasn't done it since then.
 
use an Ohmmeter and check for resistance from the alternator, if your out .01 ohms you lose 2 volts and the starter will barley work
 
try a different battery first, it might be bad. or your alt is getting bad
 
Say it with me.....battery or starter GROUND is bad.... there you go.... now stop at walmart and pick 2 up and enjoy your car. have a nice day.
 
Here's an update guys. I finally got some time to play with the car and I hooked up only a negative jumper cable to my other car's battery. The car fired right up. I realized that when I took everything apart to have it all powder-coated and what not, I never reattached the ground cable going from the batter to the firewall. In fact, I'm pretty sure I threw it away. Anyway, I made a new ground connection and it is now all good.

Thanks everyone for the help. I appreciate it.
 
I had this same issue going on for a month now and I changed my battery, my starter, fuel pump and a camshaft sensor but my car still only cranked when I have it jumped... So I'm going tu check this (ground) theory before I keep wasting my money!! Update soon
 
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